A Truly (r)awesome Dinner

A few years ago you would have had to pay me to go to a raw food restaurant – not because I didn’t like vegetables, but because ‘raw’ seemed like a fancy name for bland uncooked food. But oh how wrong I was! When raw, plant-based food is done properly, it can be a true feast for the senses. Like so much good cooking, it’s all about the flavour and texture combinations.

So as you can imagine, I was overjoyed to be invited to the collaborative dinner of About Eatery and the Blue Lotus Plant-Based Cooking School last Thursday. A partnership of such (quite literally) ‘raw’ talent was sure to create a night to remember.

We commenced with the most delicious endive salad: the endive had been ‘baked’ at 41 degrees Celsius since, as all you rawtarians know, technically ‘raw’ food means anything prepared below 42 degrees. This was decorated with creamy cashew ‘cheese’ croccantini (by Barefood Bangkok) and delicately dressed with a maple and kombucha reduction.

The next course was titled Zucchini Bloom with more vegan cheese (yum!) in the form of almond ‘ricotta’. The third was named Thai Garden, which was so beautifully assembled by Chef Keng from Blue Lotus that it was almost too pretty to eat – almost!

I unashamedly devoured the fourth course – named Taproot Textures – which was a combination of turnip, radish and daikon drizzled in fragrant cilantro oil. It was so warming and so comforting, and reminiscent of the autumnal flavours of Thanksgiving.

But of course, me being me, with my undeniable sweet tooth, was most excited about the dessert which was a delectably decadent raw cheesecake with a coconut cacao crust, a cashew mango filling and a mixed berries salsa. The lady I sat next to said it was the best raw dessert she had ever tasted! Of course she had never tried mine ;) – but truly, this slice of heaven was a perfect note on which to finish such a cleansing, flavoursome meal.

It was a testament to the wonderful possibilities that can be achieved with raw and vegan ingredients, and I’m convinced would convert any meat-eater to Veganism.

The Blue Lotus, Barefood Bangkok and About Eatery truly put the AWE in (r)awesome!